Guerschon Yabusele had a choice, and it altered the course of the season for the Denver Nuggets. He chose the Knicks, and the Nuggets went out and got Jonas Valanciunas to back up Nikola Jokic instead. The Nuggets got lucky; they dodged a dud.
That little nugget was courtesy of Jake Fischer, the People's Insider, in the latest edition of the Stein Line. Yabusele signed a two-year, $11.7 million contract with the Knicks last offseason, but ultimately it never panned out. Yabusele only saw 8.9 minutes per game, scoring just 2.7 points and pulling down only 2.1 rebounds in 41 games, all off the bench.
Yabusele wanted a chance at playing time. So much so that he waived his player option for next season to facilitate a deal, and he was dealt to the Bulls at the trade deadline in a three-team trade that subsequently saw the Pelicans send Jose Alvarado to the Knicks.
But sources told Fischer that Yabusele nearly chose Denver over New York last offseason. The Nuggets could have been dealing with a giant headache and a lack of production that could have completely altered what this season has looked like.
It worked out well for the Nuggets
The Nuggets still needed someone to back up Nikola Jokic after Yabusele chose the Knicks. They would end up completing a trade to bring in Jonas Valanciunas from the Kings, which has worked out well overall for the Nuggets. Valanciunas is averaging a steady 9.0 points and 5.2 rebounds in 14.5 minutes off the bench.
Big Val has been head and shoulders above Yabusele this season on both ends of the court from an advanced metrics standpoint as well. Yabusele's offensive rating is only 106.6 in six games of extended playing time with the Bulls, while Valanciunas's rating is 115.3.
But it's the defensive rating number that pops out. In this case, the lower the number, the better, and while Big Val's been below average at best with a 118.3, Yabusele's been atrocious so far with the Bulls. His defensive rating is an eye-watering 127.9, good for a net rating of -21.3. Not great. To be fair, the Bulls are in full tank mode.
But it's still a great illustration of how bad it could have been for Denver. We've already had to deal with enough injuries and watching the lineup change like a merry-go-round has already been hard enough. Imagine how bad it could have been with someone much worse in the paint. Needless to say, Denver came out ahead in this one.